As one committed heart and soul to the principle sola Scriptura, I find the trend toward traditionalism most unfortunate. It has, in my view, weakened the Evangelical witness in our time. Note the following:
1. It has bound the consciences of Christians in areas where Scripture gives freedom. Traditionalists have often insisted, for example, that popular music is entirely and always unfit for use in Christian worship. But where does Scripture say this? What biblical principle implies it? How does this scruple stand up against Pauls willingness to become all things to all men so that by all possible means I might save some (1 Cor. 9:22). The argument against the use of contemporary worship music is based largely on a historical argument about the genesis of the genre and its incompatibility with certain traditions.
2. It has thus led to unnecessary divisions and partisanship among churches and denominations. That displeases our Lord (John 17, 1 Cor. 1-3).
3. Traditionalism has weakened the rational basis of Christian theology insofar as it has replaced exegetical arguments with historical-traditional ones. In Christianity, only Scripture is ultimately authoritative. Arguments based only, or largely, on traditions (either Evangelical or non-Evangelical) will not be persuasive to Christian hearts.
4. Many traditionalist arguments should be classified as genetic fallacies. For example, we sometimes hear the argument that something is good (e.g. Reformed liturgy) because it comes out of Reformed tradition. That assumes that everything historically connected with the Reformed tradition is good. So either the Reformed tradition itself is ultimately normative, or the argument is a fallacy. Or, negatively, we sometimes hear that a song comes from the tradition of pop culture and is therefore unsuitable to Christian worship. This is an antithetical argument, as the former was an argument from identification. It is valid only on the assumption that there is nothing at all that is good in pop culture, an assumption impossible to prove and unlikely on a biblical view of common grace. It is hard for me to avoid the impression that traditionalism accounts for much of the poor quality of thought and argumentation one finds in evangelical writings today.
5. The traditionalist-historicist argument that the church must be completely separate from modern culture is hard to square with the Great Commission of Matt. 28:18-20. The biblical stance of Christians is not to hide from the world, but to go forth and win the world for Christ. We are not to be of the world, but we are to be in it. And, to carry out the evangelistic mandate, we are to become like the world, like the prevailing culture, in some ways: Paul says, I have become all things to all men so that by all possible means I might save some (1 Cor. 9:22).21
6. There are distressing signs that some are seeking to define the Evangelical and Reformed movements in traditionalist ways. I have called attention to this danger in the Cambridge Declaration of the Association of Confessing Evangelicals. I have also heard recently of a conference sponsored by that organization in which one speaker made a scathing attack on contemporary forms of worship and worship music. These issues, to be sure, are complex, and I certainly do not insist that all Evangelicals agree with me. I have explored this issue in a book-length discussion, and I freely admit that there is far more to be said. I am happy to see these matters freely and vigorously discussed. However, I wish that ACE would see the value of presenting more than one view of these matters when, after all, they are not actually resolved by the confessions themselves.
